History of CHI St. Luke’s Health Brazosport

Mission: The Mission of Catholic Health Initiatives is to nurture the healing ministry of the Church, supported by education and research Fidelity to the Gospel urges us to emphasize human dignity and social justice as we create healthier communities.

Vision: To live up to our name as one CHI

Catholic: Living our Mission and Core Values.

Health: Improving the health of the people and communities we serve.

The history of CHI St. Luke’s Health Brazosport started in 1942, when World War II fueled the economy and population growth throughout the Brazosport area. The city felt Freeport Hospital could not sustain the escalating populations so Dow Magnesium Hospital was built in 1947. In conjunction with the Dow Magnesium Corporation, the 42 bed hospital consisted of three physicians, an operating room, emergency room, and a kitchen and dining room for the staff. In 1947, Dow purchased the hospital from the government and in 1961, they donated it to the community and it became The Community Hospital of Brazosport.

The Community Hospital of Brazosport employed 29 RN’s, 6 LVN’s, and 21 nurse’s aides. Members of their medical staff included 25 active physicians, 17 courtesy physicians, and 10 consulting physicians. In 1955, the hospital expanded their patient capacity to 78 beds. However, the hospital was too small for the growing community and a need for a larger hospital arose. In 1958, the auxiliary was established and volunteers provided service to the hospital. Around that time, two hospitals in Freeport merged to become the Community Hospital of Brazosport in 1962. In 1966, the new four-story, 60,000 square foot facility was built in Freeport, Texas. The $2.2 million hospital increased bed capacity to 127 and offered an increased number of services.

The 127-bed hospital had a full fledged offering of services. The first floor included the business and administrative offices, lobby, gift shop and cafeteria. Gynecological and neonatal services as well as 5 labor beds, 2 delivery rooms, nursery and postpartum beds were available on the second floor. Surgery was located on the third floor and it consisted of 3 operating rooms, 5 recovery beds, 6 beds for special post-surgical care and 28 post-surgery beds. The fourth floor served as a medical floor and included a 6 bed intensive care unit.

For almost twenty years, the hospital remained near the Gulf of Mexico in Freeport, TX. However, officials felt the hospital needed to be relocated because of design and structural deficiencies. As a result, Dow again gave another generous donation of $5.5 million and 25 acres of land. In 1981, officials broke ground in Lake Jackson for construction of the new facility and in October 1984, the hospital opened as Brazosport Memorial Hospital (BMH) for a total cost of $30,000,000.

In the same year, Brazosport Health Foundation was established. The non-profit organization is there to help improve hospital facilities, increase and diversify medical services, defray costs for patients with financial hardships, and provide outstanding patient care. Their mission is to support the hospital and its groundbreaking work in the Lake Jackson community. With the support of the hospital system and the community-at-large, the Foundation will continue to thrive and support the health and medical initiatives of the greater Lake Jackson community for many years to come.